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Mendenhall Glacier Float TripThis is the Cruise ship description of this excursion, "Discover the fun of white-water rafting on an exciting - yet gentle - Mendenhall River excursion that's perfect for rafters of all ages and levels of experience. You'll get magnificent views of the Mendenhall Glacier, as well as have the chance to test your skills "shooting" some rapids." It is misleading as the photo on the website shows excitement, not a lame ride.Our guide Miles was wonderful and informative. Yes, you do 'see' the glacier, he turns the raft so you can take pictures. Class II rapids are pretty tame, I got one hand wet the whole time. One complaint was that the brochure said to bring extra socks, but says nothing else about what to bring or wear. Our group wore thermals under our jeans, extra shirts, we were way overdressed. When we arrived, we were given waterproof overalls and boots to wear. If I'd known that, I wouldn't have worn half the clothes I did. The float trip itself was beautiful in scenery, but mostly relaxing, very little to NO excitement, Miles does all the rowing. Miles pointed out countless bald eagles. (For another similar review read GertieinEugene for a similar experience, almost identical in experiences a year apart!)We did start out on Mendenhall lake and it took us a while to get to the river part of our ride. It was very cold on that part.You do go past neighborhoods, backyards, and hear an interesting story on the junkyard cars that fell in the river in the 60's after an earthquake and are still there. If you want a very tame experience, like laying out by the pool kind of relaxation don't fork out the $129. per person for this excursion!If not for Miles (a wonderfully informative, nice, young man), I would have given it a 1 star. Now if this was $30. a person it would have been okay. At this inflated, expensive price, I want something for my money and it better not be lame!

Visited June 2013

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AlaskaTravelAdv, Owner at Alaska Travel Adventures, responded to this review,
June 24, 2013

We are sorry that you didn't enjoy our Mendenhall Float trip. The float trip does have about one mile of class three rapids and our miles of a gentle float. This is just enough to get a sense of adventure, but something everyone can do and enjoy. The water level is dependent on glacial melt. This can be accelerated by rain and heat and it can also slow with colder temperatures. The water on the Mendenhall River can change several feet in a couple hours, so the speed of water running through the rapids section is dependent on conditions. I wish we would have had your group in a paddle raft. We operate two types of rafts, the one you've described, and one where all of the guests paddle. The paddle rafts can be much more exhilarating as they don't have heavy metal frames (which is what we have our seating on) in them. The guests sit on the tubes in the raft and the boat flexes down into the troughs of the rapids. Most of our guests prefer to have the guide do all the work, so most of our marketing and sales material promotes those boats. We apologize that you may not have known this alternative is available, and we will send a message out to all of the cruise ships who sell this trip asking them to inform their guests of this option. It is hard to know exactly what to wear because it really does depend on weather conditions. We do provide rain gear and boots. In addition to suggesting that guests bring extra socks, we will also suggest that they dress in layers moving forward. That way, when guests get to the beginning of the trip, they can assess the weather conditions and make the best decision as to how they should dress. -K. Grummett

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We took the Mendenhall Lake Nature Canoe Adventure tour with we booked through our cruise ship. This tour is definitely worth the $$. After a short ride to the lake, you get a quick safety speech, load into the canoe (each canoe holds up to 10) and row up to the glacier (very leisurely and not strenuous at all). We were there in May and it was still cold, had lots of ice on the lake and was raining but it was still great. We then rowed up to the beach to see the waterfall where we spent about 30 minutes. Returned to the canoe and rowed back to the other side of the lake. Our guides, Tommy and Kody, were fun, energetic and informative. I would definitely recommend this to friends and family. One tip: go to the bathroom before leaving for the tour as the only facility at the lake is a port-o-potty.

Visited May 2013

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AlaskaTravelAdv, Owner at Alaska Travel Adventures, responded to this review,
June 24, 2013

Thank you for taking the time to review our tour. We appreciate your comments and are pleased that you enjoyed your experience with us. Hope to see you on another Alaska Travel Adventures tour on your next visit to Alaska.K. Grummett

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fd20man

Suffern, New York, USA

Level 6 Contributor

153 reviews

55 attraction reviews

70 helpful votes

“You cant get closer to the glacier than this canoe trip”

Reviewed June 12, 2013

This is a trip to remember. You paddle among icebergs that have broken off from the glacier. 12-14 paddle at the same time, you pull up to the waterfall for a snack- and the view of the glacier is one you will never forget. Great narration during the trip.

Visited June 2013

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AlaskaTravelAdv, Owner at Alaska Travel Adventures, responded to this review,
September 4, 2013

Thank you for taking the time to review our tour. We appreciate your comments and are pleased that you enjoyed your experience with us. We want to take this opportunity to inform you that we have a photo contest and we are giving cash prizes. Please go to our website for more details. Hope to see you on another Alaska Travel Adventures tour on your next visit to Alaska.K. Grummett

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Marilyn S

Huntington Beach

Level 6 Contributor

107 reviews

72 attraction reviews

50 helpful votes

“Juneau, Alaska”

Reviewed June 2, 2013

Our family took a small boat trip from Juneau to Sitka, Alaska. Juneau is a easy town to get around and we enjoyed our 3 days walking the streets and hiking outside of town. We took a tour with MGT (Mighty Great Trips) for 2 1/2 hours around town and out to the Mendenhall Glacier. Our guide was great and from a small town on an island across the water from Juneau. As all the huge cruise boats fill up busses at the dock, we 4 persons had a private tour without the hassle of the big group.

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AlaskaTravelAdv, Owner at Alaska Travel Adventures, responded to this review,
July 15, 2013

Thank you for taking the time to review our tour. We appreciate your comments and are pleased that you enjoyed your experience with us. Hope to see you on another Alaska Travel Adventures tour on your next visit to Alaska.K. Grummett

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salsunny

Merida, Yucatan

Level 3 Contributor

21 reviews

7 attraction reviews

13 helpful votes

“Absolutely the worst whale watching trip I have eve been on”

Reviewed May 15, 2013

The vessel did not even have binoculars! There were no pictures and written explanations of anything we could see. There were neither refreshments nor snacks. Water was available on request.

We did see whales but one always does here.

There are many excellent whale watching trips in Juneau. This is not one of them.

Visited May 2013

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AlaskaTravelAdv, Owner at Alaska Travel Adventures, responded to this review,
June 25, 2013

We are confused as to why your trip did not have any binoculars. We absolutely provide binoculars and they are actually stored on the boat, so it can't be possible that just on that particular day, our staff forgot the binoculars. Management will make an extra effort to note the inventory of binoculars when we periodically inspect the vessel. The binoculars should be on the seat when you board the vessel. We have books about the whales on the boat with pictures and explanations and I apologize that those were not yet produced at the time of your tour, we agree that was a needed element to better help the guest connect with the whales. We do provide bottled water on the boat, and it is true that we don't currently provide any additional refreshments. Our whale watching trip is almost always combined with a salmon bake and the time on the water is about 2 hours and 45 minutes, so we didn't think it was necessary to also provide a snack, which would affect the price. We will consider your comment, however, and re-evaluate the need for a snack on the boat. Thank you for your feedback. Hopefully your comments will result in a better tour delivery moving forward. -K.Grummett

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